In 1774, Captain James Cook, famed explorer of the South Pacific, watched as some of his men experienced the unusual affliction. His surgeon recorded the diverse symptoms, including: a burning sensation in the face, pain in the limbs, and an imaginary feeling of loose teeth.

Bain and his colleagues, Kira Achaibar and Simon Moore, began their report with an excerpt from that historic tale.

Ciguatoxin tends to remain in the flesh long after a meal has been digested. When predatory fish like grouper and red snapper eat smaller fish that feed on algae, they also consume all of the poison that accumulated during the lifetime of their prey.

By the time that the larger fish have been caught, they may have amassed a tremendous dose of the neurotoxin in their livers and fatty tissue. In this case, the next stop for the mysterious chemical was the nervous system of an unsuspecting tourist.

To this day, there is no test or effective treatment for poisoning by the marine toxin. Some doctors may choose to prescribe the drug mannitol, but a randomized trial indicated that it might not work. For the unfortunate traveler, it took ten months to recover from the torturous neurological effects.